340. Showdown of Giants

Author: Hao Xifeng

340. Showdown of Giants

Historically, Pasteur and Koch can definitely be called two giants in the world of microbiology.

Like other scholars, they kept arguing with each other and making scientific research achievements. In addition to similar research fields, the relationship between the two also had a layer of hatred between the country and the family.

The Franco-Prussian War in 1870 turned Pasteur's pro-German attitude in his youth into irreconcilable hatred. This hatred was directly reflected in his attitude towards Prussian scholars, of which Koch was a typical example.

Koch was much younger than Pasteur and had a lower salary. He was a military doctor on the Prussian side during the war. Only his status as a country doctor did not allow him to directly challenge Pasteur. Even though he was holding the "Separation"

The results of "Mycobacterium tuberculosis" were still repeatedly questioned by Pasteur about various loopholes in the experimental verification.

In the eyes of outsiders, the tit-for-tat competition between the two people even extended to their respective collaborators. In the end, the two camps began to engage in various fierce confrontations verbally or through letters.

People may think that such a competitive relationship is unhealthy and may cause internal friction among scientists, which is not conducive to research.

But in fact, both of them have a strong competitive spirit, and even their life mottos and mottos are very similar. Pasteur simply means "work", while Koch means "never do nothing and practice it thoroughly."

”.

The more intense the competition, the more it drives them to catch up and surpass each other. In the end, the two major French and German schools of bacterial and microbial research will be carried forward and become complementary to each other's theories.

The results that these scholars have repeatedly "argued" have directly affected the basic trend of all mankind's fight against infectious diseases.

It is now the end of 1866. According to historical development, there are still 4 years before Pasteur will hate Prussia, 10 years before Koch officially publishes his first bacteria-related paper and stimulate Pasteur to officially enter the medical field, and 2 years until Pasteur officially enters the medical field.

It would be 15 years before we met at the International Medical Congress in London.

As long as we wait for the wheel of history to move forward, all of this will eventually come true.

But Kavi couldn't wait any longer.

In fact, Pasteur has always focused on the field of chemistry and has done very little research on human and animal diseases. At least in 1966, he just came into contact with "pepper disease", which is a disease that can cost the sericulture industry 100 million francs every year.

silkworm disease.

This disease causes the infected silkworms to be covered with brown and black spots, which look like they are covered in pepper, hence the name.

Last year Pasteur was invited to visit Arras, an important town for sericulture. He is currently studying this disease and seems to have gained some insights.

But the experimental research report sent by Kawei interrupted his train of thought and even shocked him: "Dr. Kawei, I have to admit that this report almost reveals the splenemia, which is the above

Written about the whole process of anthrax."

"As a great man in the field of microbiology, your low-temperature sterilization method has benefited me and my experimental team a lot." Carvey was a little excited when he saw Pasteur for the first time, "In addition, your theory of spontaneous generation

The denial made me more convinced of the importance of disinfection before and after surgery."

As someone who is also not interested in money, Kawei knows exactly what the other person likes.

The recognition and admiration of his younger generation and the application of his research results to all walks of life are the best gifts. This can greatly offset the various impacts of this research report and make him feel better to some extent.

"I have heard about some of your deeds, especially the high-temperature steaming of surgical instruments. Although it was inspired by me, I think Dr. Joseph Lister's sterilization method is also very good."

"I corresponded with Dr. Lister. He introduced carbolic acid, and I introduced high-concentration alcohol."

"Yes, it's great to have such knowledge at such a young age." Pasteur still looked at the experimental report in his hand: "I didn't expect that Austria's research on microorganisms has reached this point. Who is this Robert Koch?

?What a strange name, is he a professor at the Vienna Medical College?"

"No, he just received his MD degree from the University of Göttingen and is now working in my laboratory."

"Just graduated?" Pasteur couldn't believe his ears. "A newly graduated doctoral student was able to complete such research in just half a year? It's really unbelievable for a person born in Prussia to be talented."

"Well" Kawei smiled, but couldn't help correcting him, "In fact, he is not a Prussian."

"Not a Prussian?"

"The Harz, where he was born, belongs to the German Confederation, and his father and grandfather have always supervised the local mining company."

Pasteur had little interest in geopolitics and thought that the differences between countries only existed in the language used. He nodded and said: "I visited the German Confederation more than ten years ago. Although it is not yet a country, it has welcomed

Come economic change.”

"Economic changes also require administrative command," Kawei said. "Even though Austria has just been defeated by Prussia, it still has absolute dominance there. So strictly speaking, Koch should be an Austrian." (Prussian history.

After the war, it was incorporated into Prussia, so it became German)

"Well, Austria is a beautiful country. You must know that the French are extremely picky about foreign countries, and they also have a lot of prejudice. Especially after the Franco-Austrian War, Austria was devalued by them as worthless.

But I don’t think so, the Austrian military uniforms are very decent, and the officer uniforms are even fascinating.”

Pasteur said with a smile, "I once stayed in Vienna for many days. At first I was worried that my German was not good enough and I might run into a lot of trouble. But every time I asked a person in slightly normal clothes on the street

When you ask for directions, you get accurate and polite answers in French.

With the help of these kind people, I visited this charming city, was intoxicated by the magnificent hotels built in it, and was moved by Canova's most admirable masterpieces, the carvings on the tombstone of Archduchess Marie Christina, and the magnificent theater in the theater.

Beethoven’s symphony.”

As people age, it is easy to remember the bitter and the sweet, and Kawei understands this very well.

"What does Professor Pasteur think of the experiment?" he asked. "If even Professor Pasteur can't find any errors, I think this report can be directly published in major medical journals."

Historically, Koch took many detours and took five or six years to figure out the cause of anthrax.

But now Kawei has taken a direct shortcut, and every experiment is providing him with conclusions and avoiding doubts. Coupled with the final affirmation and praise of Pasteur and his scientific research achievements, the 44-year-old middle-aged man was temporarily

No errors found.

"The experiment is perfect. At least I didn't find any logical errors in it after reading it. But"

Pasteur was silent for a moment and then said: "As far as I know, the first person to discover tiny bacteria in anthrax-afflicted sheep was the biologist Professor Pierre Heyer.

He mentioned similar experimental methods in his article "The Transmission of Splenemia" published in the "Proceedings and Proceedings of the Biological Society" in 1850. Although the conclusion is still some distance from the results of this report, he should be

The first person to discover the anthrax bacterium."

"Is there such a thing?" Carvey didn't quite understand Pasteur's obsession with the title of "first discoverer" and thought it was really what he said. "Does the professor have this report here?"

"Have".2

But after Kawei quickly scanned the paper, he shook his head helplessly: "Professor Haye did find something in the sheep blood, but he did not clearly indicate that it was bacteria. And he didn't know what these substances meant.

I didn’t continue doing research, otherwise I wouldn’t have missed his subsequent related research papers.”

"This is a French paper, and it doesn't have much to do with human medicine."

Pasteur avoided the facts, and the implication was that it was entirely possible that Cavey had missed a document that was not very eye-catching. However, in Cavey's view, both at the time of discovery and in subsequent historical evaluations, the discovery of Bacillus anthracis was regarded as

The main reason why the discovery is attributed to Koch is that the discussion is complete enough.

"I don't think just pointing out something special is really a discovery."

Kawei explained: "Otherwise Professor Jacob Henle from Berlin should have been earlier. In his "Pathological Investigations" published in 1840, he proposed that epidemic diseases may be caused by some microorganisms. Oh.

, By the way, Professor Henle also expounded on the fermentation of alcohol and other foods based on the microbial hypothesis."

Even such a giant still has many shortcomings. Pasteur scratched the tip of his nose with his fingers and could not find any objection for a while.

Because "Fermentation" and "Anti-Fermentation" were Pasteur's most proud treatises, Cavey almost denied his research using the same words. But he knew very well that the so-called explanation in 1840 was not a real statement at all.

The discovery in this sense is simply untenable.

The discovery and research of anthrax has always been a key topic of concern to biologists, because thousands of cattle and sheep die from this disease every year around the world.

In addition to Professor Heyer mentioned before, Pasteur knew only Delafon, Heye's assistant Davion, and the famous German scholar Boland, all of whom were famous biologists in France and Germany.

This study by Carvey and Koch was based on their suspicions and experimental conclusions. It would be wrong to talk about discoveries without them.

But if they insist on treating their research as "first", Kawei will not agree.

"I'm really sorry, I made a mistake just now." Pasteur sighed and said, "From a scientific point of view, it is indeed not possible to decide the ownership of a major research result so hastily."

Kawei knew very well how important the existence of competitors was. Although remarks like the one just made were not polite, at least they let the great man in front of him know that he was not facing an ordinary young scholar, but a powerful person with a deep understanding of literature from various countries.

figure.

"What Professor Pasteur said is absolutely true."

"But as a researcher who has worked in the field of biology for so many years, I still have doubts about this experimental report that is only half a year old." Pasteur stood up and explained, "It is not that I doubt its authenticity, but that it is

There are doubts about Koch’s young man’s ability.”

Reducing six years to half a year is indeed harsh. Even someone like Pasteur, who has been dealing with microorganisms, would not be able to achieve such efficiency.

But the experimental process and conclusions are real, and Kawei is not afraid of questioning: "Koch only has this one project. In addition to simple daily life, he has devoted all his energy to the experiment for six months. And there are also other people in the laboratory.

Help, he is not doing it alone, the report should be signed at the end."

"Well, I saw it."

Pasteur looked at the list, then looked at Carvey, and suddenly said: "I didn't expect that Dr. Carvey would be so interested in microorganisms while studying surgery."

"I?"

Kawei just wanted to help Koch shorten the research time and did not intend to leave his name. Moreover, there was no trace of him in the entire experimental process. In terms of merit, Savarin had to be ranked behind Koch.

But at the end of the experiment report, the second name is Kawei, and the third name is Savarin.

"I just found an experimental direction for them." Kawei insisted on brushing off his role in it. "Probably less than 5% has anything to do with me."
To be continued...